Authors: Adrienne Torrisi
I
’m standing here hiding behind my locker; I don’t really want Todd to see me in this giant skirt. I’m not sure why I was okay with Tacky Tuesday, but feel so uncomfortable wearing a skirt with a giant hoop.
“I like your flowers
,” Ryan whispers loudly in Gretchen’s ear as he comes up behind her.
"Thanks
, Ryan," she says laughing. He is breathing on her neck as he is whispering to her. “Stop it!” She laughs as she smacks him on the arm. God only knows what he is saying to her. "I like this," she says as she touches the oversized lapel on his powder blue suit.
Just then
, Blythe passes them. Her hair is bigger than usual, but it still looks phenomenal. She has a leather-braided headband tied around her forehead and that is pretty much the extent of her 70's attire.
"Hey
, Ryan," she says, completely ignoring Gretchen and her girls.
"Thanks for helping out the junior class, Blythe." RTS
is clearly irritated.
"What? I'm dressed up."
Blythe gestures to her hair.
"Oh
, really? Is that different from your usual hair?" RTS snaps back.
As a fellow curly haired girl
, this irritates me. Well, honestly, RTS's existence irritates me, so that isn’t saying much. Blythe couldn’t care less, though.
"Oh
, please, Rebecca, you wish your stringy hair could look this good."
"I think your hair looks hot
," Brian jumps in. It isn't like him to try to avoid conflict so he must really believe what he’s saying. Usually he would be egging on this kind of catfight.
Blythe
smiles. "Thanks, Brian, I think you look hot, too. Actually, you guys all really look amazing." She smiles at Brian, Todd and Ryan. "They were onto something in the 70’s with these tight suits.” She rubs Brian’s arm. She is clearly flirtatious, but in such a smooth way.
"More like they were
on
something," Gretchen interjects.
What does my brother see in her?
With that, they all groan and start to disperse. Finally, the path is clear for me to walk down the hall in my ridiculous getup. Oh, the things you do for a stupid spirit point.
I notice someone smiling at me from across the hall,
that I don’t’ recognize, who is that? Wait, it’s Shane. Holy Crap! He’s wearing a white t-shirt with a cool, black leather jacket and his hair is slicked back. He is rocking the 50’s look. It’s really not fair; guy’s options are so much better than the girls when it comes to the 50’s. “Wow, I seriously didn’t recognize you. You look fabulous.”
“Thanks
, Ash! That is a very large skirt.”
“I know
; I hate it. I keep banging into everything,” I say as I practically take someone out who’s walking in the other direction. “And if you’re passing another freshman wearing a hoop skirt. It’s a hazard. I mean, we could get stuck in the hallway for hours”
“Ok
ay, now I think you’re exaggerating.”
“Maybe just a little.” I
smile but I can see how uncomfortable he is, even though he looks amazing. “I’m sorry Sid and I gave you such a hard time for not dressing up. You made up for it today.” I know that we totally guilted him into participating in spirit week. Shane is pretty particular about style and what he wears. We’ve called him
J. Crew
for as long as I can remember. So I know our constant chastising is the only reason he’s wearing what he’s wearing right now.
“No worries. I figured it was time I showed some school spirit."
"Well
, the one thing I learned from this day is hoop skirts are a major pain. I'm now grateful for leggings and oversized shirts."
"Amen
." Sid says as she comes up to join us in the hall. We have to stand at least five feet apart due to the oversized hoops we’re both wearing.
***
Thursday
is Pajama Day. Every class went all out with this one. Who wouldn’t want to come to school in PJ’s? I'll tell you who, Shane. Sid and I bet each other five bucks; I think he will break down and dress up now that he has a taste of spirit week and Sid is positive he won't. As we stand at Sid’s locker—I'm not sure why I don't just get a mirror for my locker, but it is more fun to share hers—Shane comes up from behind us.
"Good morning."
We hear his voice and we know this is the moment of truth. We both look at each other and then quickly turn around.
"HA! You owe me
five bucks," Sid says as she puts her hand out to collect.
"Oh
, man! What happened?" I ask Shane.
"You guys bet?"
he asks, completely ignoring my question.
“Yup and now I'm five dollars richer
. Thanks, Shane." Sid throws her arms around him and hugs him.
"Sorry
, Ash." Shane looks at me and smiles. "I was going to, I even put them on this morning, but I just couldn't do it. I couldn't walk out the door like that." He looks up and realizes we are dressed exactly like
that
. “I mean, you guys look great." He quickly tries to backtrack.
"You can stop.
We look ridiculous, but we've got school spirit!" Sid and I look at each other and laugh knowing how stupid that sounds yet really not caring.
Brian, Todd and Ryan
found footie PJ's in adult sizes somewhere online. It's frightening that these exist, but hilarious to see the three of them walking down the hallway in them. Sid and I are dressed in big, fluffy slippers and flannel PJ's. It sounds really cute, but actually walking around in oversized fuzzy slippers all day is a major pain; not to mention it is an unseasonably hot eighty degrees, so flannels are not the best idea. By second period, I am done with Pajama day.
***
The Thursday night before the homecoming game is the annual bonfire. For as long as I can remember I have wanted to officially take part in the bonfire. For the last two years, I’ve watched Ryan leave the house to go while I had to stay home with my parents and watch Thursday night TV. Now, I am finally here, experiencing it firsthand, and it is mind-blowing.
Tradition
is to burn the Hornet’s mascot, a giant bee. Smoke wafts through the air and burning embers fill the black sky with red and orange. There is nothing like seeing a big, paper mache bee burn while the cheerleaders cheer on the crowd. “Beat the Bee,” they chant over and over, and before you know it, everyone is shouting, “Beat the Bee," as loud as they can.
Something about yelling into a large
, burning fire is really freeing. You can feel the intense heat on your entire body. It’s so hot the little hairs on my face feel like they are being singed. I’m screaming into the flames as they disintegrate the competition’s mascot; it is truly exhilarating. You can scream anything and no one can hear you. It’s like the world’s best confessional. I love every second of it. I think about screaming, “I Love Todd,” into the fire, but quickly come to my senses. I mean someone
might
be able to hear me!
Most of the classes
stick together, so all the freshman gather across the fire from the juniors. As luck would have it, I can see Todd perfectly from where I am standing. Even through the haze of the fire I can see his crystal blue eyes. Wait is he looking at me? I quickly turn to look behind me, but there is no one there, maybe he’s looking at Sid?
I look back in his direction and he
’s still looking over here, so instinct takes over and I smile. He smiles back and does a subtle chin raise in my direction as if to say, “
Isn’t this awesome?
”
Shane
notices the moment I’m having with Todd from across the blazing fire. He leans in and whispers, “Where art thou Romeo?”
This
pulls me right out of my bliss. I look at him, appalled, and punch him as hard as I can on the arm, but inside I am freaking out.
How could he know? He must be kidding?
“Yeah, right!” I quickly respond, hoping it’s soon enough to be believable.
Principal M
arks starts shouting from a bullhorn, which thankfully cuts my conversation with Shane short. "Tomorrow is our big homecoming game and this year we will beat the bee! Last year, the hornets won the battle, but this year, we're going to show them just who will win the war!” With that, the entire crowd starts chanting, “Go Trojans!”
Principal Marks
continues, “I want to thank you all for coming out and showing such wonderful school spirit. We are all excited for the homecoming dance. Again, let me remind you there is zero tolerance for breaking school rules. Please continue to be safe and act responsibly. Go Trojans!”
The rest of the bon
fire lives up to everything I’ve always imagined it would until I get stuck waiting for Ryan to finish making out with Gretchen. I guess the heat from the bonfire has really heated things up because I am surrounded by couples who are doing everything except talking, and here I am standing all by myself in the middle of the field with the dying fire as a great metaphor for my own love life. Sid has already left with Todd and I have no idea where Shane went. The only thing that would make this worse is if Todd was making out with RTS, so I guess it's better that Sid isn't here.
I
try to keep my eyes focused on the dirt floor of the field, but you can only count how many rocks there are within a twenty-foot radius for so long. Right now, I really hate my brother; this is so incredibly rude. I mean he knows I'm standing here, waiting for him to stop making out with Gretchen so we can go home. Why is he taking so long?
If I
would have known this is how my night would end, I would have gone home with Todd and Sid. At least that would have been the perfect ending to a perfect night. Instead, I'm stuck in the middle of make out village.
I accidentally look up for a second and notice Brian
making out with some girl. Surprise, surprise. Wait, is that Blythe? She definitely has awesome red hair. Maybe, if Brian wasn't attached to her face, I'd be able to tell. She’s wearing black tights with a cool sweater that's cut off right below her mid-drift and it’s layered with a longer tank top. Man, she always looks like she just walked out of an Urban Outfitters catalogue. That has to be her; no one else at this school can pull off that outfit.
My eyes
can't help wandering back over toward the make out fence. She is leaning up against the fence and Brian is pushing into her with his body. They are seriously getting into it and I almost feel guilty watching, even though they are out in the open. I can’t bring myself to look away, though. Suddenly, I feel a warm hand on my shoulder and I involuntarily scream so loud a few people turn to look
.
“It’s me
,” Shane whispers and my racing heart starts to relax.
"You scared me to death
." I am so relieved it’s only Shane.
"Sorry
, Ash."
"No worries. I'm glad it's you. You saved me from the middle of make out hell
.”
"Yeah, it looks like Brian and Ryan are busy." He
squints his eyes, trying to improve his vision. "Who is Brian trying to resuscitate?"
I laugh a little too loud
which makes one couple stop just long enough to give me a dirty look. "I think it’s Blythe, but who knows? So many girls are dying their hair red since Blythe came to school; it could be anyone." At this point we are both staring a little too closely when the girl puts her arms around Brian's neck and there it is—the cross tattoo! Shane and I both look at one another in shock "It is her!" we say at the same time.
"Hmmm
, didn't see that one coming." Shane says.
"Yeah
, I thought she was above all of this homecoming popularity stuff."
"Guess everyone gets sucked in eventually." He
pauses and then looks at me, our eyes connecting. It’s the first time he’s really looked at me that intently. "Speaking of, what was that with Todd tonight?"
Talk about not seeing that one coming. "Um
, I don't know what you're talking about?"
"Come on
, Ash, we've been best friends since first grade. I know you and I know when something is going on with you."
"I can say
, with all honesty, nothing is ‘going on’," I say with air quotes. "Todd has no idea I exist. Plus, I think he might be into RT—um... Rebecca?"
Deep down
, I’m hoping Shane has some insight into the Todd-Rebecca situation and I’m hoping he didn’t notice my ‘RT’ slip?
"I don't think so. I mean
, they're just going to the dance as friends."
WHAT
! They are going to the dance? Together?
I am trying to pull it together to respond without looking obvious, but luckily, Shane starts talking first.
"I thought you didn't care?"
he says, eyeing me.
"I don't
," I quickly retort.